LANSING, MI -- The Michigan House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a $39.5 billion dollar budget that came in below Gov. Rick Snyder's recommendation, leaving more than $280 million in available funding un-allocated.

The budget, which lays out funds for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, 2017, passed 60-47, with most Democrats voting against it.

Republicans in the House and Senate have indicated they're leaving room to consider some other options, including paying down debt, revisiting teacher pensions or paying for a tax cut.

House Appropriations Chair Rep. Laura Cox, R-Livonia, said the final budget leaves room for a range of possibilities.

"We have some things the caucus would like to discuss as a whole and kind of figure out, with the senate and the governor on what we want to do with that," Cox said.

Singh said the Republican attempt to leave room in the budget spurred opposition to the package.

"That is a key. I mean they have slashed health care, they have slashed services to workers and to seniors in these budgets, and they just have it sitting there," Singh said.

He offered an amendment to put more money into roads.

"I know when I talk to people they want their roads fixed. And they say if there's any extra money that's going into the rainy day fund or any other fund, put that money towards the roads," Singh said.

But Republicans praised the budget, including Rep. Ed Canfield, R-Seweabing.

"We are here to move the state of Michigan forward. It has been and it remains a long road with many meetings and many more to come," Canfield said.

Cox said the budget reflected priorities like an extra class of Michigan State Police troopers and a boost to local revenue sharing. And, she said, it kept government spending increases below the rate of inflation.

During both budgets, Democrats made an effort to get roll call votes on their amendments by having members shout in favor of the motion. Each time, Rep. Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, ruled the Democrats did not have enough support for the motion to prevail. According to the state constitution, one-fifth of the House must support such a motion.

On one occasion, after a rejection, House Democrats turned in signatures proving more than the required one-fifth of lawmakers supported the motion. Still, Republican leadership did not recognize the motion, something Democrats decried as unconstitutional.

Here are some points in the House-passed budget which emerged as contentious during Tuesday's proceedings:

Meals on wheels. Gov. Rick Snyder proposed increasing this by $1.5 million, while the House approved a $750,000 increase. Democrats did not win an amendment to provide more funding. Rep. Brian Elder, D-Bay City, criticized the smaller increase. "How can we even think of literally taking food out of the mouths of our seniors, many of whom are veterans, when they can't leave their homes?" Elder said. A Republican amendment to put money back in failed.

The state privatized prison food services, first with Aramark and then through a new contractor, Trinity Food Service. The budget includes an extra $4 million for that contract, as it's tied to inflation. Rep. Fred Durhal, D-Detroit, said it was no surprise the new contractor was bad like the last one. "When profit is your priority, public safety and common decency take a backseat," Durhal said. He lost an amendment to return state workers to those positions.

In the Department of Environmental Quality budget, the House stripped out $1.3 million and four full-time employees the governor had recommended adding for vapor intrusion and also did not put in his recommended language requiring the department to investigate at least 120 potential vapor intrusion sites. Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, lost an amendment to add it back in. "If we cut this funding, we're telling our residents that we don't care about their health," he argued.

Rep. Henry Yanez, D-Sterling Heights, asked for more accountability around the state's Pure Michigan tourism program, and questioned studies on its return on investment. "We have a lot of state pride in those commercials, and I get that. But is it worth the tax dollars we spend on them?" Yanez said. The House maintained funding for Pure Michigan at last year's level of $34 million.

The House budget increased revenue sharing to Michigan's cities, villages and townships even above the governor's recommendation, putting in an additional $12.4 million in one-time funding. Rep. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, lost an amendment that would have directed even more funding that way. "We are the worst revenue sharer in the country," he said.

Rep. David LaGrand, D-Grand Rapids, offered an amendment to strip Unemployment Insurance Agency money out of the budget. The state improperly flagged 40,000 Michiganders for unemployment fraud, collected the money, and now the state is using it. "That leaves a bad taste in my mouth," LaGrand said. His amendment went down.

Overall, the Democrats lost amendments and were largely unhappy with, and voted against, the final product. Durhal urged a more bipartisan solution and said lawmakers should remember the people as they voted.

"Honestly, they deserve better," he said.

The Senate will pass its own version of the budget, and the bodies will hammer out their differences to come up with a final product later this year. The budget has to be done to continue funding state programs by Oct. 1, but Snyder has set a precedent of getting budgets done months ahead of time for planning purposes.